Uncategorized – THE WAY I SEE IT

WHY DO CHURCHES CLOSE ?

In a special article in the Hamilton Spectator called Test of Faith, Dr. Reginald Bibby, a sociologist at the University of Lethbridge, who has studied the religious culture of North America, speaks of a “handwriting on the wall”. The mainline groups — Anglicans, Presbyterians, Lutherans and the United Church — will says Bibby, “with a few individual exceptions, continue to shrink, and with their related declines in resources, will see most of their physical outlets sold off”, he said.

David Seljak, an associate professor and chair of the religious studies Department at St. Jeromes’ College in Waterloo goes a step further and maintains that this is not a local problem.“There is no place where the mainline Protestant churches are not in a steady state of decline,” he says. “It’s something that is happening across Canada and it has been happening for some time.”

But Why? How is it that churches come to that state in their development? There are some common denominators. In every case, the congregations had a long and varied history. In every case, the congregations had grown throughout their history to a point that warranted building edifices on a grand scale. If you have 1000 people attending worship, you need a place that can house that many people. But in every case, for whatever reason, the number of worshippers could not be sustained. Rather than grow, the congregations levelled off and then began to decline to a point where the support base – the people who donated the money – could no longer sustain facilities that needed to be maintained, and in some cases updated to meet accessibility and other building code issues.

The article that I referred to does not give satisfactory answers. It refers to demographic issues, such as people moving out of the city centre into the suburbs. It refers to sociological changes from the original members of the church to the millennial generation that has different needs, and according to Seljak “is spiritual but not religious.”

While some of these points may be valid, they don’t tell the whole picture, and neither will the ideas that I would add. And the first would be a shift in theology. The so-called “mainline” Protestant churches have shifted to a liberal theology that focuses on the rational, and downplays or denies the supernatural events of the Bible. The United Church of Canada was formed in 1925 as the result of a union between Methodist, Congregational, and some Presbyterian congregations. Some of these denominations have a long history of a very evangelical past, which somehow disappeared in the smelting pot that became the United Church. And other mainline churches that did not join the union have also shifted to a more liberal theology. It is an unmistakable fact that evangelical churches have a far lower rate of “closures” although there have been some.

A second reason that I would suggest, is a failure to read the “handwriting on the wall” sooner. The churches that declined did not do so overnight. Attendance did not plummet from 1000 to 100 or 50 from one year to the next. In most cases the decline was gradual. Sometimes the wrong questions were asked too late, or not asked at all. Churches that have proudly stated that they were “not concerned with numbers”, and who tried to explain away their lack of growth, either theologically or otherwise, are now basing their decision to close on numbers. “We no longer have the resources that we need”.

A third reason, is that at some point, the main thing stopped being the main thing. Churches that focus on the main point of Christianity, which is following the Great Commandment to love one another and the Great Commission to make disciples (in other words spread the Gospel) are less likely to need to shut their doors as churches that are occupied mainly with lessor things. I remember being in the board meeting of a church years ago, where more time was spent discussing the financial health of the organ fund than the need of souls. They had some segregated funds invested for the purpose of financing the maintenance of the pipe organ. When the General Operating Fund began to dry up or go into the red, they would “borrow” from the organ fund. At issue in one particular Board meeting was the contentious question of how much should be borrowed, when it would be repaid, and “what interest rate will we charge ourselves!” On the agenda of the same meeting was a proposal for an outreach ministry which was never discussed because the above item took so much time. I went home crying (and I cried after many board meetings while I was in active ministry) followed by sleepless nights. The main thing stopped being the main thing.

Dr. Vance Havner first articulated a cycle known as the “Four M Cycle” Man – Movement – Machine – Monument. Someone’s idea grows bigger than the man (or woman) and becomes a movement that catches fire and spreads, as fires tend to do. Inevitably, a mechanism or structure – a machine if you will – is necessary in order to keep the movement and the vision of the founder alive. But sadly, soon the machine becomes an end in itself. Oiling and maintaining the machine becomes more important than the work which the machine was created to do. It becomes a monument – or worse, a mausoleum to house ideas and practices that are dead.

Havner’s image applies to both secular and religious institutions. In the case of the Christian Church, the God-Man Jesus began a movement that grew past His human lifespan and was carried on by his followers – the apostles, martyrs, church fathers, and their successors. By the third century at the latest, the movement became a machine – a hierarchy of an institution which was very powerful. The humans who had that power became so intoxicated by it that they worked hard at maintaining the machine. Taken as a whole, Christianity did not freeze into a monument. Why? Because in all ages, there have been people who bought into the original vision of Jesus: “I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it” (Matt. 16:18) and “go into the world and make disciples of all nations” (Matt 28:19). The secret to prevent becoming a monument is to get back to the original vision. Reformers like Martin Luther, John Calvin, Huldyrich Zwingli and others had that vision and created movements within the movement to keep going forward. But sadly, even within those movements there have been machines and monuments that have evolved over time.

Individual churches today, are always in danger of succumbing to that deadly cycle that ends in a monument. The signs are not hard to overlook, but sometimes they are overlooked:

when the way something is done becomes more important than what is being done – in the end less and less gets done.
when ministries within the church become perpetuated without understanding what they mean – we do things simply because this is what we have always done and we have always done it a certain way.
when pining for the past glory days is more intense than the hope of the future.
sacred cows such as styles of music, particular buildings, traditions and practices that were invented by humans, and many more.

The key to avoid the trap of the 4 M’s? Stay in the movement phase, or return to it. What that means practically for the modern church was articulated in a blog by an Anglican, whose name I can’t find, but I like these ideas:

1) concentrating on the basics of our faith,

2) concentrating on the basics of Scripture (and more importantly concentrating on the Living Son of the Living God that Scripture points to), and

3) concentrating on basic discipleship (learning how to actually live the miraculous, restorative, healing things that Jesus taught us to do)

I don’t mean to point fingers at any church that I have mentioned here. But I believe if more churches heeded this advice, fewer of them would close.

MOTHERS DAY

When I go to the cemetery to visit the grave of my mother on Mother’s Day or on other occasions, I keep reminding myself that Mother is not there. In her grave in our family plot are the mortal remains of her earthly being, but she as a person, and her personality continue to live elsewhere. Where exactly? After studying the Bible for many years, I know that my mother is not a star shining down on me, nor is she an angel, for angels cannot be saved and redeemed. I can say with certainty that those who “die in the Lord” are WITH the Lord. The actual locale is not as important to me as this fact – with the Lord. That is what Jesus said to the repentant thief on the cross, this day you will be with me in paradise. And after the Apostle Paul ponders what would be better – to continue living on earth and serving the Philippians, he concludes that to depart and to be with Christ, is “better by far” (Phil. 1:23)

When I go to visit mother’s grave, I do not talk to her. I used to do that in the early stages of grief, and I do not judge anyone who has graveside chats with a loved one. I now realize that when I spoke to Mom, it was more for my sake, than it was for hers. And could she hear me even? I rather doubt it. For mother, and all of the dead are no longer part of this world defined by time and space. They are literally in another world that we do not (yet) have access to, except by praying to God.

The theologian Helmut Thielicke said something in one of his books that has helped me: to know that our departed loved ones are with God, must be absolutely sufficient for us. No, we can no longer communicate with them. But Thielicke does concede that we can say, whatever troubles us about a loved one (perhaps something that we wish we could apologize for) by addressing it in prayer to God. Will God pass messages from us to our loved ones? Certainly He could, for God can do all things, but whether He chooses to do so or not, is really up to Him.

The Bible warns not to attempt to contact our communicate with the dead. Many people ignore that warning, and believe that the are communicating with a loved one. However, I believe that they are being deceived and are really communicating with lying spirits. Those spirits may well speak information known only to the deceased, but we must remember that demons, while not omniscient, do live in the spirit world and may have access to knowledge that we do not.

So for those of us, who have mothers in heaven, may we be comforted in the Blessed hope that we have in Jesus, who has conquered death

ANOTHER REFORMATION?

Today (October 31) is Reformation Day. I deliberately ignore the other occasion commonly observed on this date. Those who share my reformed heritage are well familiar with Martin Luther’s five “solas” – Sola Scriptura, Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Solus Christus, and Soli Deo Gloria. These translate in English, respectively: scripture alone, grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone, and God’s glory alone.

A reformation phrase that is less well known was coined somewhat later (the 17^th century) – “ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda” – which means “the church reformed, always being reformed”. Some like to translate that as “the church is always reforming”, but if my grade 10 latin serves me correctly, the verb reformanda is passive, which means the church is not “always reforming” but is “always being reformed”. Perhaps a hairsplitting point for some, but either way it addresses the issue of CHANGE – something that churches today are either reluctant to do, or in some cases too eager to do in order to embrace every modern fad to be culturally relevant (a modern-day buzz word).

In some ways, I think that Martin Luther and John Calvin and other reformers would be aghast if they could see what churches, who claim to follow their teachings have become today. Many are nothing more than monuments, as I have pointed out elsewhere. Others again, in their quest to appeal to modern thinking have long since abandoned their spiritual and biblical roots. Both miss the point of semper reformanda.

The reformation did not invent new truths. When Martin Luther taught that salvation was by grace alone through faith alone, he did not contrive a new concept, he re-discovered something that was always true. The church, since its beginnings has believed what Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; and Hebrews 10:38 teach, namely that “the just shall live by faith” (or by their faith). But actually this concept goes back even earlier than the Christian church. Already in the Old Testament, the prophet Habbakuk said, Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith. (Habbakuk 2:4). The Old Testament saints were saved by looking FORWARD to the sacrificial death of Jesus on the Cross. All of their sacrifices and rituals were but symbols that pointed forward to Christ, who is the only salvation for all. We of course, in our faith, look back to that sacrifice on Calvary. In Jesus there is salvation, and in none other. Reformation then, is not about inventing new truths, but re-discovering, and embracing old truths that had been neglected, or in some cases replaced or buried by other ideas and teachings, more modern and fashionable practices. Semper reformanda means not to look forwards to what is new and enticing, but returning BACK to the Bible and its truths.

But the church of today faces another danger, and that is a lust for change simply for the sake of change. From music that is hip (who cares what we sing – it sounds so culturally relevant), to abandoning practices that the Bible clearly teaches and embracing those that it clearly condemns. Whatever semper reformanda means, it cannot mean to figure out your theological beliefs on the fly or fix you moral standards on what culture says is right. It means that we must always be examining our faith and our teachings (and our practices) in the light of the Bible – and being willing to change by going back to those truths. A proper understanding of this principle will aid each generation in avoiding the pitfalls of remaining stuck in the quagmire of its own man-made traditions and rules on the one hand or on the other hand being caught up in every enticing wind of doctrine as Paul warns in Ephesians 4:14 “that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting.”

Some have suggested that we are “due for another reformation”. I would say, we need to re-discover semper reformanda. Yes, the reformation did result in a division of Christianity, and there is a movement afoot to repair that rift and strive for a reunification of Christians back to one brand of Christianity, arguing that there is more that unites than what divides the two wings of Christianity. However if we understand the point of the reformation, we realize that the fundamental issue of how to be reconciled to God is believed and taught very differently by the various churches.

Unity is good, but it cannot be achieved at any price. It cannot be negotiated or engaging in compromises that water down our beliefs to the lowest common denominator. Truth does not change with time. What was true when Jesus said, I am the Way, The Truth and the Life; No one comes to the Father but through me (John 14:6) is still true today. Writing to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul was also concerned about Unity. But he did not advocate unity at all cost. He said that Christian unity is based on one body and one Spirit – one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all and in you all. (Eph. 4:4-6). And the path to realizing that unity is speaking the truth in love, and growing up in all things into Him who is the head–Christ--. (Eph. 4:15) . That is another way of saying ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda.

HAPPY PENTECOST!

TODAY (May 23, 2021) is Pentecost Sunday, although that fact might have escaped you. HALLMARK has not discovered this holy day yet, so it is unlikely that you would have received a “Happy Pentecost” card. The world does not quite know what to do with this day, otherwise they would have found a way to commercialize it.

Sadly, many Christians also do not know what to do with this day, especially if you are in the evangelical part of the Christian family. Some pastors deliberately ignore the day, out of disdain for the liturgical calendar. Interestingly enough, what do those same people preach about on Labour Day or Valentine’s Day? And what about the years that Mothers Day falls on the same Sunday as Pentecost? Well, you get the point.

Pentecost is actually a very old Biblical feast. It dates back to the Old Testament. The name comes from the word for “fifty” and indicates that in Bible times it was observed 50 days after the Feast of First Fruits. Pentecost was a holy day, which means that work was forbidden.

It is interesting to me that while Christmas and even Easter as we know it, are not mentioned at all in the New Testament, the Feast of Pentecost IS. (See Acts 2:1-21). Pentecost was a Pilgrim Festival, meaning that according to Jewish Law, all the adult Jewish men would come to Jerusalem from wherever they were living and personally be in attendance during this celebration. God chose that particular day, when Jerusalem would be filled with thousands of pilgrims, to fulfill His Promise made by the Prophet Joel: I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days. (Joel 2:28-29)

The evangelist Luke, in his second book (The Book of Acts) tells about the supernatural event: “Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken.Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language?” (Acts 2:2-8)

This event resulted in considerable public attention. Some dismissed it in mockery, saying the disciples were drunk. But Peter gets up and reminds them that it is only 9 in the morning, and they were not drunk, but rather experiencing what Joel had prophesied. Then he delivers a scathing sermon, that was rooted in Old Testament Scripture and reveals Jesus, whom “you have crucified” as the Son of God and Messiah. Peter’s remarks that Luke records in Acts 2:14-37 would not be classified as “seeker-sensitive” preaching today. It was a hard-hitting message that resulted in people being “cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:37-39).

What follows is the baptism of 3,000 people who were “added to the church”. Imagine, a church that grows from 120 to 3,120 in one day!

While many people today simply dismiss that as “one for the history books”, others say, “we need another Pentecost today”. But the events recorded in Acts chapter 2 will not be repeated, just as Jesus will not be born in a manger again, nor will He be crucified again.

So what meaning, if any, does Pentecost have for us today? Throughout the Book of Acts, and in the writings of the apostles, whenever this outpouring of the Holy Spirit is mentioned, it is described in the past tense. Because of what happened back then in Jerusalem (the Holy Spirit being poured out on all flesh) we too, if we are followers of Jesus can receive the Holy Spirit. In fact that is the only way that we can truly be born-again followers of Christ. Paul reminds the believers in Rome that they “are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.” (Romans 8:9)

Pentecost means that God has given us a great gift. But despite that fact, many who identify themselves as Christians today are not experiencing all that they should of the Holy Spirit. Like the young Timothy, we need to hear the encouragement of Paul to “fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you“. (2 Timothy 1:6) In the next verse, Paul says^“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” (2 Tim 1:7)

As someone has said, it is not that we need “more of the Spirit”, but rather that The Spirit wants more us us to be surrendered to Him. We can “fan the flames” if we are obedient to those things that God’s Spirit has already shown us, and if we serve Him with the spiritual gift(s) that He has given to us.

Why Do Churches Close?

This post was originally published in November 2018 just before I returned home from Kenya. The subject is still relevant, so I am republishing it today.

When I returned home to Kitchener (in Nov 2018) the city was not the same as I left it. The church pictured above, the former Trinity United Church, was gone. It has been demolished, and as I originally wrote these lines, I learned that a “suspicious fire” had added insult to injury as it were. I was inside the church only once, for a concert, but I have passed this church hundreds of times in my life since childhood. Known for many years as The Church on the Market Place because it was across from the former market of Kitchener, where the imposing brand new court building now is. It was for decades a fixture of the sky-line of Kitchener. So why is it being torn down – a church that was one of the largest in the city? Because the congregation that used to live there was unable to manage the staggering cost of maintaining the huge building. Built to seat about 1000 persons, the congregation now numbers about 200, but in the end saw only 50-60 people out on a Sunday morning. So the congregation sold the building, and moved several blocks up the road and now meets in rented facilities in the chapel of St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church. The church, which started 177 years ago, stood at this location on Frederick St and Duke St in downtown Kitchener for the past 111 years. Church membership has declined from a high point of 2,000 members to about 200 today The new owner of the demolished church is planning to build a more than $100-million, 33-storey condominium tower, which would then be the tallest structure in Kitchener-Waterloo.

A few blocks from Trinity, sits another grand empty church on Weber Street where the former Zion United Church used to live and

worship. Zion dates back to 1893. It has two sanctuaries that can each seat 750 people, a chapel, a gym and various class and meeting rooms. In its heyday it saw about 1000 people in its pews. But when it closed in 2015, the number of Sunday worshippers had dwindled to 40. A former official of the church said that in a cold winter, it would cost $5000. to heat the building. This building will not be torn down. The new owner says that he doesn’t yet know what he will do with it. He had turned down offers from people who wanted to open a bar or a night-club, and so far there is only one tenant renting space in the building – Big Bliss Yoga.

A similar fate was experienced by the former Olivet United Church on Onward Avenue. It began as a Sunday School mission of the Evangelical Association in 1931, with the church being dedicated in 1936. In 1968 Olivet became a church in the United Church of Canada. It too, became a dwindling congregation that could no longer keep up with the expenses, and the church was closed in 2016 and sold to the Rockway Mennonite Church who worship there now.

But United churches are not the only ones who face this dilemma of what to do in oversized facilities that are too large for the dwindling number of members and worshippers. Three Lutheran churches in Kitchener recently faced the same issue: St. Mark’s Lutheran in downtown Kitchener “The church beside the hospital, St. John’s Lutheran in Waterloo, and Reformation Lutheran on Krug St. However, instead of disbanding, the three churches have merged into one new church called Trillium Lutheran Church which began worshipping together this fall in the former St. John Lutheran Church. A Pentecostal church also worships in that facility at a different time on Sunday morning.

And my home town in Kitchener isn’t the only one where this is happening. In nearby Hamilton, the city in which I was a pastor for 13 years, the same thing is taking place. In June of 2017, Olivet United closed its doors. There were 50 of the 150 members worshipping there in the end. Someone who used to attend there said that they can remember a time when the church was packed at Christmas. “When I joined 18 years ago, we had to bring out plastic chairs — it was packed”, says Sylvia Chitty (Hamilton Spectator).

In October 2017, St. Luke’s Anglican Church in the north end of Hamilton closed its doors. It was built to seat 300, but there were only 17 at the final service. The number of regular worshippers was 12.

Two formerly large United Churches in Hamilton: Centenary United and St. Giles United, have merged into New Vision United Church, and one of those two churches is or will be demolished.

Individual churches today, are always in danger of succumbing to that deadly cycle that ends in a monument. The signs are not hard to overlook, but sometimes they are overlooked:

when the way something is done becomes more important than what is being done – in the end less and less gets done.
when ministries within the church become perpetuated without understanding what they mean – we do things simply because this is what we have always done and we have always done it a certain way.
when pining for the past glory days is more intense than the hope of the future.
sacred cows such as styles of music, particular buildings, traditions and practices that were invented by humans, and many more.

1) concentrating on the basics of our faith,

2) concentrating on the basics of Scripture (and more importantly concentrating on the Living Son of the Living God that Scripture points to), and

3) concentrating on basic discipleship (learning how to actually live the miraculous, restorative, healing things that Jesus taught us to do)

I don’t mean to point fingers at any church that I have mentioned here. But I believe if more churches heeded this advice, fewer of them would close.

PREACHERS AND POLITICS

The Covid lock down has had some positive side effects. One is that many churches, whether they are meeting in person or not, are also online with either web streaming or posting their sermons on YouTube or both. Over the last few weeks and months I have watched parts of many online services from a variety of different denominations.

One thing that bothers and outright annoys me however, is to see how many preachers have turned their pulpits into political soapboxes. Whether the issue be COVID conspiracy theories, the US presidential election, or God forbid, the scandal mess that is Canadian politics. Frankly, I am surprised that the congregants of such preachers tolerate this. I always assumed that people do not go to church to hear a political speech, but rather to worship God and be instructed in the Word of God. While it is mainly the mega church pastors with national and international profiles that are guilty of politicizing the pulpit, other churches are jumping on the bandwagon as well. More surprising is that it is primarily protestant churches – churches who profess to believe in the separation of church and state – who are guilty of this.

Let me clear up one thing right from the start of my rant, and that is that I am greatly interested in politics. Politics is my favourite spectator sport, and I follow political events the way others follow the Stanley Cup (when it can be followed). I have political convictions and opinions. And during my brief retirement, I even voiced some of them. But now that I am again practising ministry, I keep these views mainly to myself, and I bite my tongue when I am in the pulpit, or on social media, or this public blog.

The reasons for that go beyond the separation of church and state, though I believe in that firmly. As a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I am called, along with the entire Christian church, to proclaim that gospel to all people and all nations. No matter what a person’s political conviction, the good news of salvation in Christ is directed to them, and there is a place for them in the church.

The New Testament teaches, that the church is about the Kingdom of God. Jesus said that this kingdom is “not of this world”. (John 18:36) He also said, “The Kingdom of God is within you (or among you). (Luke 17:21) Actually, Jesus had a great deal to say about where the Kingdom of God comes from, how to get into it, who will be included, who will be excluded etc. Christians, when they pray the Lord’s Prayer, pray that “thy Kingdom come”. It is a mystery. It is already here, and it will one day come in a vert visible way. Right now it exists everywhere that Jesus truly is King, whether in an individual human life, or in gathered churches over which Jesus’ Kingdom of love and truth and justice truly reigns. The calling of all messengers of the Gospel, namely us preachers, is to work for the advancement of that kingdom.

The world of government and politics is its own world that is necessary for the preservation of order and peace in society. The New Testament clearly teaches that we are to pray for, and be subject to, the government of the day. In Romans 13:1 Paul makes the astounding statement that “there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” It is important to note that neither Paul, nor Jesus for that matter, lived under a democratic government. The Roman government in Jesus and Paul’s day was a ruthless autocratic and often cruel government. But neither Jesus nor Paul could be called political activists, and certainly they were not revolutionaries. Jesus urged His followers to “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what belongs to God.” (Matthew 22:21)

People often mistakenly assume that democracy is their God-given right. While I am thankful to live in a democracy, we must remember that Christianity flourished under the pagan autocratic regime, and under the regimes that followed it. It also flourishes today in countries that are not ruled by democratic governments.

Living as we do in a democracy, we do have the right to express political opinions even if they are contrary to the government of the day. We have a right to call out politicians who are corrupt, immoral, hypocritical or dictatorial. We have the right to advance our own ideas for solutions. But we do NOT have the right to mix this activity, and confuse it with our religion. When a nationally known preacher says on television, that “a true Christian cannot possibly vote for ….”, then in my opinion he has clearly stepped outside of his proper role of preaching the gospel (the good news of salvation through Christ). And that is a two way street. Politicians need to keep their nose out of the church and not prey on people of any religion to gain their support.

I was in Kenya in 2017, when the Supreme Court of that nation declared the results of the presidential election null and void, and ordered that a new election be held. I followed that election with great interest, and I have to say it was the nastiest campaign I have ever seen, and it included violence that led to many deaths. It also included politicians who visited churches on Sunday morning and were allowed to speak. After the service they would curse and tell lies about their opponent on the steps of the church. I witnessed politicians speaking at a funeral that I attended, and apparently they also visited weddings. Both weddings and funerals are usually largely attended events in Kenya and so considered fair game as places to go and seek votes. To his credit, the Principal at the college where I was teaching, got up in chapel one day and declared that he wanted teachers and students alike to leave their political opinions outside the gate of the college campus. And they did.

So what would I do if a politician came to my church? S/he would be welcomed and greeted as any other visitor (we usually do not announce names of visitors). They would be welcome to worship as anybody else. They would not however be allowed on the platform, nor would my message be tailored for or against them.

Let me end with an apparently true story. In a church in the British countryside the king of England unexpectedly walked into the church while the preacher was in the midst of his sermon. Immediately he changed what he was preaching on and launched into a eulogy of the king and the royal family. Later in the week a package was delivered to the preacher. Inside was a crucifix with this note: This crucifix is to be hung on the pillar opposite the pulpit, so that its occupant might be reminded of his proper subject.

THE WAY I SEE COVID-19

We have new vocabulary that all of us are navigating. Social Distancing. Approximately a month ago few of us had ever heard of the term. A few weeks into it, many are suggesting it is not a good term, since we are all inherently social beings who need human contact even when we are distant from one another. So Physical Distancing is the new terminology. Keep a measured distance apart from one another. To help define this, we are told where we can go and how often. In the supermarket lines are taped to the floor to ensure that we do not get too close. See-through-barriers for cashiers, bus drivers and others. And we are not supposed to be in gatherings of people. At first it was groups no larger than 200, then 50, then 5, and now even meeting with one other person outside of your household is not recommended. We are threatened with penalties if we do not comply.

Its been a learning curve. For me, it began earlier than for most. I went into the hospital at the end of February for an operation, and during my convalescence at home, the Corona Virus (Covid-19) pandemic began to grow and spread. At first we thought it was something limited to a specific part of the world (China), but now we have the shocking reality of 614,136 worldwide cases, 4,326 of them in Canada. It has resulted in 28,251 deaths, 55 of them in Canada. And the numbers climb every day, so the ones I cited are probably out of date by the time anyone reads this. More interesting statistics can be found here.

We have, it seems an information overload on this event that is unlike anything we have seen in modern times. I will restrict myself therefore, to some personal impressions.

First, I would mention the sense of shock that I felt the first time I went into a grocery store and saw the empty shelves. Not only toilet paper and related products were missing, but the store I went to had no meat, no potatoes, no pasta, no bread. I felt tears coming to my eyes, because I remember Mom and Dad telling us stories of such conditions in post-war Europe, and I recall seeing documentaries about shortages in countries behind what was once called the Iron Curtain, but I never thought I would see such things with my own eyes here in Canada, the land of plenty that I was raised in. So I tried my luck by going to a second grocery store. There I was able to pick up the last package of spaghetti (not the kind of pasta I was looking for, but that was the only choice).

Secondly, I am disappointed by the foolishness that I see and hear not only in the media, but even among my own acquaintances. People who ignore the directives of our governments, and foolishly talk about how the whole thing is exaggerated.

Social media seems to be a great tool to stay in touch with those who mean a lot to us, and whom we cannot be with at this time. Sadly, many abuse that to peddle misinformation about miracle cures. I too have posted humorous things, thinking we need the relief of humour, but slowly it is no longer funny.

Finally, the pandemic is bringing out the best (or the worst) in people. In short, it is revealing who we really are, and sadly who we will continue to be when its over. Those who don’t go to church, for example, do not miss the fact that places of worship are closed, and for them nothing will be different when they open again. Those who have been socially distant, remain so to this day, and don’t do anything to reach out to loved ones and others, despite the ironic term of “social media”. I am very happy to be in touch with people that way, and disappointed (but not surprised) by those I have not heard from. Those who are by nature generous and caring, are the ones who are currently reaching out to the vulnerable and the helpless, and we read touching stories of that. They will continue to be generous and caring when this is all over.

Like many others, I ask myself, when we will return to some level of normality, and how will that normal look? At first we thought it is a matter of weeks, now we are hearing talk about months when the emergency restrictions will be lifted.

I really like what someone has said (and I’d love to give credit but I don’t remember who it was): “in our rush to get back to normal, we should reflect on what we want to get back to, and what we should leave behind”. Couldn’t have said it better myself.

SAVE THE PLANET?

Global Warming. Climate Change. Greenhouse gases. It is impossible not to hear these terms, and now that we are in the midst of a federal election we hear them even more. Now before I say anything else, let me make it clear that I am totally in favour of the idea of taking care of our planet. God has made us stewards to take care of our earth, and collectively we have done a very poor job of it.

However, the annoyance factor over the hype over this issue has grown to outright disgust and anger for many of us over the way that our politicians of all stripes are using this issue to try and buy our votes. The other day a political flyer arrived at my doorstep which encouraged me to “save the planet” by voting for that party.

So a “reality check” of facts would be in order here. According to The Union of Concerned Scientists, Canada produces only about 1.6% of the greenhouse gases produced globally. Even reducing Canada’s portion by 50% will not make much of a difference to our planet’s wellbeing.

According to the scientists mentioned above,

The top six polluters are:

1: China 9,040,000 Metric Tons.

2: USA 4,997,000 Metric Tons.

3: India: 2,066,000 Metric Tons.

4: Russia 1,468,000 Metric Tons.

5: Japan 1,141,000 Metric Tons.

6: Germany 729,000 Metric Tons.

Canada ranks 9^th,with 549,000 Metric Tons or 6% of China, or 1.6% Globally

In the past our governments have set lofty targets, which were never met. The target that the liberals are promoting during this campaign was actually set by the previous Harper conservative government. At that time, our Prime Minister who was then in opposition, scoffed at that target as being “insignificant”. Hypocritically, he has not only borrowed (or stolen) the conservative target, but also introduced a carbon tax which many scientists believe accomplishes very little if anything but grabbing cash for government coffers.

That is why I am not amused by election propaganda that claims that votes for a particular party will “save the planet”. Nothing will save this planet from what God said will happen to it: “Heaven and Earth will pass away” (Luke 21:33; Matt.24:35; Mark 13:31) and John, the apocalyptic writer of the Book of Revelation speaks of “a new heaven and a new earth for the first earth had passed away”. (Revelation 21:1)

Salvation is needed by the inhabitants of this planet more than the planet itself. Hardly anyone, whether inside or outside the church, and least of all our politicians care about that.

The views expressed in this post are my own, and not necessarily those of my employer.

“Dear Diary”

On my bookshelf at home 12,176 km away in Canada (that’s 7,573 miles for you non-metrics) is a thick volume that I read a few years ago. It is the published diary of Ronald Reagan, apparently written while he lived in the White House as President of the United States. One page even is a facsimile of his handwriting. I remember at the time that it seemed exciting to read about the day to day musings of a man who was the most powerful man in the world. But I am a skeptic of sorts. I wonder how much of it was edited. Are these really the thoughts that someone shared with nobody else? Or how much of it, if any, was expressly written for posterity, or shall we say consciously written to an unseen audience?

There are other diaries of famous people who are long gone, in fact some of them became famous posthumously because of their diary. One of the most famous of these is the Diary Of Anne Frank. It was written by a young girl while she was hiding for two years with her family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. Both she and her parents perished in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945, but her diary survived and has been published in more than 60 languages.

Or in Canada we also have the published diaries of our longest serving Prime Minister, William Lyon MacKenzie King, covering several years. Now his is a mixture of pedantic and outright boring stuff mixed with weird accounts of King’s conversations with his deceased mother and other occult séances that he was in the habit of attending.

I have kept a diary off and on throughout my life. More off than on. I started it in childhood, when we were taught that it was a good thing to do for self-discipline and other reasons that I don’t remember. Those diaries are nowhere to be found. In my adult life, I would start journaling, which is a little different from a diary. Diaries are usually a daily affair, and can contain many details including what the weather was that day. Journals tend to be a more expansive record of one’s thoughts. In fact “journaling” is recommended for charting one’s spiritual progress, or one’s thought processes about a particular subject or decision that we are pondering.

Some people write a diary or journal as a deliberate legacy to leave behind for their children, or grandchildren. While that might seem like a good idea, you will then probably be very selective about what you write there, and document only those things that you want your intended readers to know. You will probably refrain from writing things that trouble you deeply, but would rather not share with your intended readers.

But diaries and journals present some problems. The first is, that they could be read by others whom you didn’t intend, and most likely they will be, if the diary or journal is left behind when you die. Your diary will be part of the belongings that your executor needs to sort through, and dispose of. It may well fall into the hands of someone whom you would not want to read what you have written. If you are worried about that, then you will want to dispose of it while you are alive… either give it to someone whom you would like to have it, or destroy it.

The second problem is that a diary can be used against you while you are alive, if you are ever charged with a criminal offense. Although diaries and journals are private, they generally are admissible in court. I have heard of more than one person who was convicted of a crime because of what they wrote in their diary. You say, “that’s not a problem because I didn’t do anything wrong?” Well apparently even if you do not document a crime, the diary can still be used to trace your whereabouts by the events that you mention. So even if you feel like you want to kill someone – you might want to keep that sentiment to yourself. And worse, what you have written is subject to interpretation by others – the interpretation of those who wish to use the diary against you, and the interpretation of the court or jury.

I haven’t yet decided what I will do with the sporadic diary/journal that I have kept; whether I will continue to write in it, or whether I will destroy it. Since mine is a locked electronic file, I guess I can still edit it. For those who don’t keep a diary, you’ve got nothing to worry about. For those that do – it is something you might want to think about.

Pastors’ Appreciation Month

October is Pastors Appreciation Month. I’m not sure where we got that innovation from, but I suspect it is North America, for I have seen or heard no mention of it here in Africa. Now I believe that everyone deserves to be appreciated for who they are and what they do. But of course, we tend to put all that appreciation into nice neat little packages: Mothers Day, Father’s Day, Children’s Day, Family Day, Secretaries Day, Nurses Day, and the list goes on and on.

Now the churches that observe Pastor’s Appreciation Day or Month, (and not all of them do) go about it different ways. Sometimes there is a presentation during a worship service to the pastor and spouse, that may include flowers, comments by the chair of the official board, and maybe a gift or a gift card or some such token. I have heard about churches sending their pastor and spouse away on an exotic trip, possibly even the Holy Land, but I have never been the recipient of such a gift, nor would I feel comfortable receiving it.

However I wonder how many pastors sigh like many mothers on Mothers Day, and silently wish that some of these appreciative sentiments could be spread out through the year. I’ve spoken to many mothers who say that the effusion of affection, the breakfast in bed, or the special flowers or gifts don’t mean a whole lot when you are taken for granted, or even forgotten the rest of the year. How many lonely mothers receive no visits from their grown children throughout the year, and then get picked up from the nursing home on Mother’s Day to be taken to a sumptuous dinner that does more to soothe the conscience of the children than it does to bring joy to the mother.

The same with pastors. Showing appreciation should not be relegated to a particular Sunday or month. The cards (yes Christian bookstores have to make a living) are nice, and so are the gifts, but they are not absolutely necessary.

Something I have said to all of my congregations at one time or another is that the greatest honour and tribute that you can pay me is to walk in the ways of God, by putting into practice the things that you have heard me teach. I don’t necessarily need the “lovely sermon Reverend” comment at the door, but I will accept anything that involves a simple ‘thank-you’ or ‘I appreciated what you said about …. “.

Mind you, I’m not fishing for compliments. I serve in a tradition (Baptist) where we have not only the freedom of the pulpit but the freedom of the pew. In other words, it is your choice whether to accept or believe my message, and it is OK to disagree with me, and also to tell me so, or to engage me in discussion. But there is a proper way to do that. After the service at the church door is not the best time or place. Why? Because by the time I get there, I am tired. Preaching, whether you believe it or not is hard work. The sudden increase and then loss of adrenalin makes you emotionally drained, and even vulnerable. While I have always been willing to minister to peoples’ spiritual needs after a service, and have been willing to stay as long as there are people wanting to see me, I never liked formal meetings after church in order to make difficult decisions. And if you must speak to me about a disagreeable matter, then the best way is to make an appointment that suits us both so we can sit down and discuss whatever you have on your mind about my sermon or whatever issue you disagree with. If you can’t come to my office, I will meet you at your home or wherever is convenient to you. But sounding off on me at the door is unlikely to bring a good outcome for either of us. I have been lambasted, even yelled at at the door for all kinds of things, that usually had nothing to do with my sermon. Seriously. A man once yelled at me because the air conditioning in the church was set too low for his comfort. He was wearing shorts, and he shouted at me that he didn’t appreciate that the a/c was so cool that he couldn’t feel comfortable wearing shorts in his own church!

Appreciation that is genuine is welcome anytime, any month of the year, and yes pastors like anyone else are in need of it and usually respond favourably. It doesn’t have to be elaborate or effusive either. A genuine squeeze of the hand, a hug (if you go to a ‘hugging’ church), a short email sent after Sunday, can work wonders.

And finally, remember this. Pastors are human. They have bad days like everyone else does. You have no idea what he might be going through at the moment. His work involves so much more than what you see and hear on Sunday morning. So go ahead. Express appreciation to your pastor. Do it any month of the year. And don’t wait until his farewell Sunday.
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